Playing Games
by sanctum-c
Summary: Four friends prepare to do battle against the Templar.


Snow crunched beneath his feet as Ringabel peered around the edge of the building. Their quarry seemed unaware of their presence and continued with his current task. Ringabel motioned his companions to come closer, Tiz glancing at the enemy then ducking back to let Edea and Agnès see. The latter looked fearful.

"Him? He's our enemy?" Edea asked incredulous. She glared at Ringabel.

"Of course, Edea!" He hissed. "He's the Templar. He crushed all the followers of the Orthodoxy. It's his fault that Agnès is trapped here."

Edea blinked, looked to Agnès and back to Ringabel. "Agnès came here at father's request. He told you that last week. He's very concerned about..." Edea trailed off, concentrating. "Religious persecution," she said in halting, stumbling speech, smiling when the sentence was out.

Ringabel sighed. Even a passing similarity to real life was troublesome it seemed. "I know that. But we're playing the game right now."

"I thought the games were supposed to be all pretend?" Edea had assumed a questioning look. "That sounds a bit like what's really happening." She twisted her stick between her fingers as she spoke.

"Um?" A quiet voice interjected. The three friends turned to look at the newest member of their group. Though wearing a thick coat, a scarf, ear-muffs and a gloves Agnès was still not used to the cold of the country and shivered. Ringabel wondered just how the temperature differed between Eternia and Ancheim.

"Agnès?" Tiz asked, taking a step forward.

"I'm not sure I understand what we're doing?" Agnès looked lost and wary.

"It's a game," he explained. She looked blank. "Did you not have games before?"

She looked away, nervous. "No, I was in... training." Ringabel's eyes widened in surprise. He had not considered that her childhood could be so different to theirs.

"No games," Edea exclaimed. "Sounds awful."

"Oh no, it was important and I was so lucky to be chosen... But I'm not really needed anymore." Tiz took Agnès's hand as her face fell.

"But you can play games now?" he asked.

"Maybe. I... think I'd like to. But I don't know what to do." Agnès glanced between Tiz and Edea.

"Pretend." Edea said the word with pride, as if expecting it to explain everything.

"Um?" Agnès murmured, fidgeting again.

"We make things up," Tiz said. He gestured around them. "This isn't the capital, it's the stronghold of the enemy that we managed to sneak into. And Edea changed sides. And that stick is a sword."

Edea glanced at the afore-mentioned stick. "And it's name is Ise-no-Kami." Ringabel looked at her, confused. Edea sighed. "It's the name of sensei's sword. If we're playing pretend I want that."

"I think I understand." Agnès turned and pointed back towards her house. "And my house flew here across the ocean. All the way from Ancheim. Where's it warm..."

Ringabel smiled. "That's the spirit. And I am Edea's adopted brother."

Edea looked skeptical. "That's really not very imaginative."

Ringabel flicked his hair up with a flourish. "Ah, but you see, I have lost all my memories so I don't know I'm your brother."

"But wouldn't I recognise you?" Edea retorted.

That was a bit of a problem with the idea. Wait. "Actually no. No you wouldn't as I always used to wear armor so you never got to see my face."

The silence that followed felt embarrassed. Tiz cleared his throat. "Are you sure about this? Edea wouldn't have seen you before you started wearing the armor?"

"And did they keep making it for you as you got older? And I still never saw you?" Edea added.

Ringabel fidgeted. "Okay, maybe not that bit. What can I have then?"

"We'll come back to you in a minute," Edea replied. "How about you Tiz?"

"I found Agnès first and rescued her from flying bad guys," Tiz said. He glanced around the corner again. "There they are with the Templar."

The others crowded at the corner once more, staring down the street. "Ah, the villainous Holly Whyte and Barras Lehr. You did well to rescue Agnès before they could get to her." Ringabel nodded with as much gravitas as he could muster.

"But how can they be here?" Agnès asked. Her lips quirked into a smile before she covered her mouth with one hand.

"We must have gone back in time," Ringabel said, holding his chin and posing as he had seen Braev do on occasion. "I must have lost my armor when it happened and that's why no one recognises me."

"Ringabel. That still doesn't make any sense," Edea said.

He sighed. "But you liked everybody else's ideas."

"That's because they weren't weird. Also, we haven't gone back in time, we've crossed into a new world. It's almost the same as our old one but with all our old enemies alive again." There were times Ringabel became jealous of Edea's reading age contrasted with his.

"Oh no," gasped Agnès. "We have to fight them again?"

"We could ignore them and go straight to the Templar," Tiz suggested. "We know what's going on now."

Ringabel shook his head. "While true, it does not seem wise to let those villains attack others. We must defeat them again."

Edea sighed. "Very well. We shall defeat them and then proceed with our plan. Prepare yourselves."

Four children stood poised to attack when a new voice halted their preparations.

"Agnès, you should come home now."

Ringabel whirled, eyes wide and pointed at the fairy floating nearby. "She's found us. I remember everything now."

"What?" Airy asked in a flat tone. "Agnès-"

"Don't listen to her Agnès," Ringabel interrupted. "She's just using you. She's the real villain. I saw her kill all of you before I changed worlds."

"Is being my forgotten brother really that important?" Edea straightened from her attack stance to address him.

"I don't have anything special. The rest of you all have cool things."

Edea hummed to herself for a moment. "How about a book that tells the future? From one of the other worlds?"

Ringabel was silent for a second and then his face broke into a smile. "I like that. Okay; it says in my journal that she killed our past selves."

"Can we fight her?" Edea asked hefting her stick.

Agnès shook her head. "She's too powerful."

Airy squinted at the quartet. "I'm really not sure what's going on here, but-"

"She's readying her attack." Ringabel was grinning despite the seriousness of the situation. "It's just like last time. We can't face her now. We have to retreat."

"Fall back all of you," Edea shouted. Ringabel charged off along the snow covered street, Edea close behind him. Tiz grabbed Agnès's hand and they followed.

"Hey!" Airy called out. "Agnès? Your lunch is ready." She hovered for a moment, waiting to see if the former vestal would return. "Hey, can I play too?" She sped off after the children.


End file.
